I live in a village in Norfolk, and have a beautiful 45-minute drive to work through the countryside.

I come across all features of rural life – from getting stuck behind a tractor to having herds of deer majestically leap across the road in front of me.

I work at Rowan House, a specialist, secure-care hospital for adults with a learning disability, challenging behaviour, and personality disorder. Patients are referred to us from prison and other secure services. Some have committed serious offences. The hospital is run by the Huntercombe Group, an independent healthcare provider.

After arriving at 7.45am, I will first try to have an informal chat with patients. I'll often then attend the staff shift change at 8am, and have a catch-up with staff to learn if anything of note happened during the night.

After going to my office and checking emails, I'll attend the 9am handover. This is when all patients are discussed by the team, including social workers, therapy staff, psychiatrists, and our head of nursing and hospital manager.

Typically, I will then run a therapy session – either one-to-one or group therapy, such as a DBT (dialectical behavioural therapy) group, an arson, substance abuse or anger-management group.

Around 50 per cent of Rowan House patients have autism or are on the autistic spectrum, and I have been involved in developing an Understanding Me autism programme. The essence of it is that if people with autism have a better understanding of autism and, for example, their particular difficulties with understanding what is socially appropriate, then they will be better able to cope when moving on in their care pathway.

My one-to-one therapy will often be about addressing behaviour that led to a patient's index-offence, substance abuse or life trauma. Making progress in therapy is often about gaining trust with a patient, and many secure-care patients will have had bad experiences of trust. If one's early experiences revolved around being rejected, then this behaviour can become embedded.

In all my therapy work, I see myself as a bit of a detective, trying to unpick what is behind a patient's behaviour, whether it is mental illness, learning disability or a disruptive family background. Often, something comes out during therapy which will help me understand a patient. For example, a patient might mention something that was never previously disclosed and this can give me a new perspective.

In any one week I find that one-third of my time is spent writing patient reports, particularly for mental health tribunals.

Satisfaction from any one day comes from helping patients move along a different life trajectory, and being able to help moderate their risk behaviour so they can progress to supported independent living. Therapy and engaging with people are much more effective than locking them away in prison.

Of course, working in a secure setting has its challenges. It can be demanding and stressful. Our staff support referral system means that during any one day I may be providing counselling support to a member of staff. This works well. To feel well-protected is vital in such an environment. As a staff team we are closely knit, and there's a family feel to the hospital. This has much to do with us being in a rural setting.

Outside, I play competitive tennis, so one of my coping strategies is to bash a tennis ball around!

Towards the end of the day, I will typically meet one of our assistant psychologists or consultant psychiatrists and finish off emails.

I'll try to head home at around 5.30pm. It's another chance to enjoy the peace and beauty of the countryside.